7th grader’s beer experiment heading to International Space Station

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HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. -- Using a method usually embraced by adults, a Highlands Ranch seventh grader is turning the brewery process into a chance to make space history.

"I really didn't expect this from the start, I just designed this experiment to get a good grade in my class," said 11-year-old Michal Bodzianowski, a student at the STEM academy in Douglas County.

After submitting an experimental idea to a national contest run by The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, Bodzianowski's experiment was one of a handful chosen to be deployed on the International Space Station.

The experiment, which looks at the effects of the fermentation process in micro gravity, is designed to see if there could be helpful medical uses from the by-product of the beer.

"Just the whole idea of an 11-year-old putting beer together in my classroom...that was pretty special," said Sharon Combs, a second-year science teacher at STEM academy. To help make the seventh grader's dream a reality, the school worked with private sponsors to raise $20,000.

Bodzianowski hopes to travel to Cape Canaveral in December to watch his project get launched into space. The aspiring scientist also hopes to one day attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.